1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a case for items such as soap and the like, and, more particularly, to a soap case having novel means for retaining and securing the opening to the interior of the case in order to prevent the inadvertent release or ejection of soap, and which is readily adapted to be employed as an assembly by the user for washing and bathing purposes.
2. Description of the prior art
Washcloths provided with soap receiving portions are well known in the prior art; however, certain problems have been experienced with such prior washcloths, involving the difficulty in inserting and retaining a bar of soap in the soap pocket, and further, in the application by the user of the combined washcloth and soap, to the back and less accessible parts of the body. Fabrication of such soap pouches or washcloth soap assemblies from open mesh fiber cloth presents a number of problems which heretofore have not been satisfactorily solved. It would be desirable, of course, to provide a pouch design or assembly which can be constructed as simply and economically as possible. However, the assembly must also be convenient to use, and this requirement has tended to complicate the fabrication procedure. For satisfactory performance and use, it must be relatively easy to insert cakes or pieces of soap or other detergent material into the pouch or pocket, while at the same time having the pouch constructed so that the soap or detergent material will not be ejected from the pouch while it is being employed by the user for washing or bathing purposes.
One attempt to provide a satisfactory washcloth having a soap receiving pocket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,827 wherein a washcloth is provided comprising a band of absorbent material and two sets of handle-forming draw strings wherein each set of draw strings is operatively connected to close a respective end of the band. The band forms a soap-receiving pocket for holding and retaining a bar or cake of soap, and the draw strings provide a pair of handles to be held by both hands of the user as the band containing the soap is manipulated over the user's body. Although such a device may be useful in reaching remote portions of the user's back, for example, the draw string handles are superfluous when it is desired to wash the front portion of the body as well as under the arms and leg regions.
Other attempts have been made to provide a satisfactory soap and washcloth assembly, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,829,392 and 2,607,940. However, these assemblages and devices suffer from many of the problems and difficulties mentioned above.